About this project

Make LA Game Space possible—Best Game Bundle Ever for $15!

$335,657

pledged of $250,000 goal

10,354

backers

LA Game Space is a nonproﬁt center for video game art, design, and research, where people of all backgrounds can discover the potential of games together. The Space supports four core activities: Exhibitions, Talks/Workshops, the Artist Residency, and Research Labs. Everyone worldwide may freely participate in our events via live-streaming and archived recordings.

Please join our amazing community, help launch the space, and receive exclusive backer rewards from game makers and artists.

Katamari-creator Keita is making a new game with Adam Saltsman (Canabalt) and releasing it exclusively through our Kickstarter for ALL PLEDGES $5 and up! It will work with Windows, Mac, and Linux!

The rise of the independent games movement is a significant milestone in the history of video games. These games represent pioneering work by some of the most prominent game-makers that took part in the movement at its inception.

We're able to offer our backers these games (Noitu Love 2: Devolution, Aquaria, Off-Road Velociraptor Safari, The Basement Collection, and the never-before-released Super Crate Box: X-Mas Edition) because their developers believe in LA Game Space and want to see it happen in a big way!

Everyone listed above is generously creating a new game and donating it to this Kickstarter because they believe in making LA Game Space possible.

If you love video games, owning this game pack is essential. And if you haven't enjoyed a video game in some time, it is an incredible way to explore how interesting and diverse they have become.

All you need is a computer—these games will work with Windows, Mac, and (for the most part) Linux!

The LA/GS Game Pack includes:

WAKE UP (Angie Wang): an interactive fiction game with beautiful, visceral illustrations depicting the horror of multiple false awakenings

INPUTTING (Steve Swink): a mind-bending game about outwitting your keyboard where each level challenges you to discover which keys will move the ball to the goal

L.A. DEATH DISK (Beau Blyth): a head-to-head sporting event from the retro-future—use your jetpack and jumping skills to grab the disk, but don't hold it too long or it will explode!

…and 27 other games!

For $10 more, you’ll receive—

FOUNDER CREDIT at the Space and on our website

the 24 HOUR NON-STOP MUSIC CLOCK MIX by DUBLAB! Each hour-long mix included in the 24 Hour Non-stop Music Clock Mix was custom crafted by a different dublab DJ to reflect a specific hour of the morning, afternoon or night. You can play the entire collection as a complete 24-hour soundtrack or select a specific mix to the moment you’re living.

As a bonus, it also includes a 1-YEAR MEMBERSHIP to LA Game Space! Attend special member-only events, and receive discounted admission as well as priority seating for popular talks, workshops, and performances.

A hand-crafted PIXEL PORTRAIT of you, a friend, or loved one created by one of the most talented pixel artists ever! Print it out and frame it or use it as the perfect avatar on a social network. [Each artist will be making a limited number of portraits. Priority will be given to backers who pledge earlier. Don't wait until the last minute!]

Your PIXEL PORTRAIT and NAME displayed prominently on the founder wall at the Space and on our website too—forever declaring your legacy as a SUPER FOUNDER of LA Game Space!

▲ David Surman explains exactly why…

▲ Pen Ward (Adventure Time) shares his feelings…

We are creating a place for discovering the potential of video games. The Space is in Los Angeles, but everyone online will be able to participate in our talks, workshops, and exhibitions. All of our programs are open to anyone in the world.

LA Game Space is a nonprofit center for videogame art, design, and research. It is a place for game innovation, education, and exhibition; where all of us can play and make and study and showcase games.

Our galleries will host large-scale EXHIBITIONS, interactive installations, performances, and retrospectives that can only be achieved at a space like this. We will be sharing catalogs, exhibition documentation, and the conversations surrounding gallery events online for everyone's benefit.

Our SPEAKER SERIES will feature new dialogues with both traditional and nontraditional game-makers. Our WORKSHOPS will introduce newcomers to the medium and explore new processes and perspectives with experienced creators. Events will be archived and available (for free) online. They will also be livestreamed, and a moderator at the Space will enable worldwide, remote participation.

RESIDENCIES are the beating heart of the Space. The residents will be creators from diverse backgrounds working collaboratively to create experimental game projects. LA Game Space will provide residents with work space, exhibition opportunities, and feedback from an equally diverse group of bright minds. Our goal is to free residents from the limitations often presented by commercial game development.

GAME RESEARCH LABS will enable live gameplay recordings including useful metadata such as button presses, pulse rate, face-tracking, and eye movement. These recordings will be made available online for researchers worldwide. The lab will also provide access to a wide variety of platforms and devices—both historical and contemporary—and support experimental hardware and interface projects.

We've been working on this project for over 3 years. Now, after thoughtful planning, building an amazing network of supporters, and finding the perfect location—we need your help!

We are located in Los Angeles, but we're part of a global conversation, and we have structured the space and its activities so that everyone can take part in it. Remote participation will be offered for our live streaming workshops and presentations via an online moderator, and all events will be watchable online for free even long after they happen! We'll be posting everything we can online including documentation of exhibitions, the residency program, and the conversations surrounding them.

If you care about free information and open archives, you will love our initial research lab project to create an open-source video game experience archive. Since video games are an active medium, it is not enough to archive the games themselves. We will be recording video game playthroughs, along with useful metadata such as button presses, eye-tracking, and pulse-rate—and then archiving this data online for anyone to access.

“When you contribute to this Kickstarter campaign, you are not only receiving great rewards—you're providing essential funds for LA Game Space and you're creating a resource that will produce interesting, exciting games for years to come.” —David Surman, Pachinko Pictures

“…help shape the future of the greatest art form forever…” —Stick Skills

“It’s a project that could redefine the idea of what it means to be a game maker.” —Kill Screen

“If people like this are so behind it, you know, it's probably worth getting behind.” —Kotaku

“Head along to the Kickstarter…this is one of the important ones.” —Hookshot Inc.

DANIEL REHN is a researcher and creator of media/electronic art including video games. The early demoscene introduced him to making art+code, and he has been featured in as well as curated countless exhibitions since. As former director of the Re:Game lab and historical game collection, he and his colleagues developed several new game visualization techniques. He also co-directed Playpower—a foundation for learning games in developing countries which garnered a MacArthur Digital Media and Learning award in 2009. Other recent projects include re-contextualizing popular culture through data visualization (ZZZ) and revisiting the early days of cyberspace(WWWTXT).

ADAM ROBEZZOLI organizes cultural events and is a developer/producer of several small games. As the founding member of the Attract Mode video game collective, he co-created the artxgame project which matches up artists and independent game makers to collaboratively create games. He also organizes Game Nights in LA to foster community and introduce interesting independently-created games to a wider audience.

We are in the process of assembling an amazing group of advisors for the center, coming from many walks of life and areas of expertise. This group reflects the diversity of the LA Game Space community and its mission.

This project will kickstart the LA Game Space into existence! Your support will make everything possible in our first year:

the interdisciplinary residency

quarterly exhibitions / retrospectives

regular installations / performances

cutting-edge game research labs

speaker series and workshops

an online archive of all events and output

Public funding will enable LA Game Space to think big, without being constrained by any particular corporate, academic, or political agenda.

We have an opportunity to impact how the world creates, plays, and understands video games.

Risks and challenges

We've worked hard to anticipate organizational challenges so that we can *exceed* expectations, not just meet them! Here are some challenges — and our game plans for overcoming them.

REWARDS FULFILLMENT: We have amazing rewards, and Kickstarter projects often encounter unexpected fulfillment costs — so we have teamed up with Fangamer for all our physical reward fulfillment. They have handled fulfillment for several major Kickstarter projects, including the “Double Fine Adventure,” so we expect great things!

CHOOSE THE RIGHT PLACE: Location, location — some cultural centers simply pick the wrong place… or haven't picked yet! We've worked with Creative Space to secure our location. It is ideally situated in the Arts District, centrally located for easy access by visitors, residents, and collaborators alike. The size will accommodate exhibitions, workshops, and large crowds for events.

SUSTAINABILITY: Will things continue long after the Kickstarter project period ends? We have a detailed plan. LA Game Space will sustain itself through memberships, events (including conferences and charity concerts) and fundraising drives.

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED: For the challenges we *don't* know about, our trump card is our incredible community of reward donors and supporters — including our Game Pack developers, Print Pack and Pixel Portrait artists, our board, and more. If problems arise, we are confident that we can quickly crowdsource solutions from this community — and we are asking you to be part of it!

Definitely! Just add $20 for each additional shirt and let us know when you fill out the backer survey. If you want 3 or more, please add $5 for shipping and handling (or $10 international). Thank you so much!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $5,000 or more
About $5,000

⬆ ALL OF THE ABOVE, PLUS—
«YOU ARE IN•THE•GAME» be a PLAYABLE CHARACTER in Gaijin Games' RUNNER2! They'll create a fully-animated 3D model of you that will be an unlockable character in Runner2 for Mac/PC!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $8,000 or more
About $8,000

⬆ ALL REWARDS AT $1000 and BELOW, PLUS—
░░░░░░░░░░░ «64-BIT SPONSOR» HOST AN EVENT AT THE SPACE! And YOUR NAME/LOGO will be in ALL PRINTED MATERIAL (exhibit catalogs, event programs, and publications) for the first year!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $10,000
About $10,000

⬆ ALL REWARDS AT $1000 and BELOW, PLUS— ░░░░░░░░░░░ «128-BIT SPONSOR» YOUR NAME/LOGO will be forever included in EVERY LIVE STREAM and ARCHIVED VIDEO made during the first year, and they'll appear in ALL PRINTED MATERIALS too!